Vietnam request another player addition before AFF U23 final

“Right after the semifinal between Vietnam and Timor Leste, I discussed adding more Vietnam players with VFF. This is an emergency situation due to Covid-19. Each team should have 16 players for the game,” VFF Chairman Tran Quoc Tuan told VnExpress on Friday.

Vietnam only had 13 players to compete when they won against Timor Leste in the semifinals in Cambodia on Thursday. In this match, coach Dinh The Nam even had to field goalkeeper Tran Liem Dieu as a striker in extra time due to player shortage.

Besides the two injured players from the semifinal, Vietnam had one detected Covid-19 case on the team during the test on Friday morning. Therefore, they have only 10 players left to prepare for the final against Thailand on Saturday. Previously, 24 out of 27 players got Covid and Vietnam had to call up more players.

AFF has promised to consider Vietnam’s proposal. However, the decision will only be made after a PCR test of the whole team to determine how many players can compete.

Vietnam will play the final with Thailand at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and the game will be reported live on VnExpress International.